‘Dentist made me drunk’ patient banned from driving

on 18 January 2008

A drunk driver who blamed his dentist for his alcohol reading has been banned.

Barry Squire, from Ifield, claimed he was unsteady and slurring after smashing into a car because his dentist had given him 12 injections of anaesthetic before having his tooth pulled out.

The 45-year-old man, who pleaded not guilty to driving a motor vehicle with excess alcohol, was disqualified at Haywards Heath Magistrates’ Court when ‘no medical evidence’ was produced to back up his claims.

Squire collided with a vehicle after a dentist appointment and a drinking session on 3 July 2007.

He said: ‘I had a toothache so I went to the dentist. The dentist gave me the standard amount of anaesthetic but it didn’t numb my tooth. I was given about 12 injections and my tooth was extracted.

‘I left the dentist and went to The Duck pub in Haywards Heath. I had one-and-a-half pints of lager. I was heading back to Crawley when I clipped a car. My car spun over and I was in a complete daze.’

The court heard Squire was almost two times over the limit when he was breathalysed.

He added: ‘I don’t know whether it was the anaesthetic or the fact that I am diabetic that caused the reading.

‘I might have looked legless but I was slurring and unsteady because my face and mouth were numb from the anaesthetic.’

Magistrate Stuart Hetherington said: ‘No medical evidence had been provided so we are unable to take the anaesthetic and diabetes into account. We find you guilty.’